Ventilator refrigerator-car



(No Model.)

i 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. C. E. LUCAS 8v A. A. WOOD.

VBNTILATOR REPRIGERATOR GAR.

Patented Jan. 5,1892.

witness/eo (No Model.) 2 Sheegssheet 2.

C. E. LUCAS 8v A. A. WOOD. VENTILATOR REFRIGERATOR GAR.

Patented Jeu. 5, 1892.

wifi/www0 wie@ @Zw/- 4 my Inentary form.

i UNITED 4STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHRISTIAN E. LUAS AND ALBERT A. \VOOD, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

VENTILATOR REFFtlcERAToR-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Batent No. 466,715, dated yJ' anuary 5, 1892,. Y

Application liled January 26, 1891. Serial No. 379,163. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHRISTIAN E. LUCAS and ALBERT A. IVOOD, citizens of the United States, residing at Atlanta, in the county of Fulton and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Veutilator Refrigerator-Cars; and we do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the inventionsuch as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specilication.

This invention relates to railway-cars, and more particularly to that class of railway-cars used in the transportation of perishable matter-such as fruits, meats, drethe prime object being the improvement and amplification of the invention set forth in United States Patent No. 400,863, granted to us on the 2d day of April, 1889. y

This invention consists of the apparatus hereinafter described for the purpose of furnishing dry refrigeration and reliable ventilation, either alternate 4or combined, and of purifying the air used in the car.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of one end of the car, partly in section, showing the interior parts, the trap, the insulated partitions, and the icecompartments, the ice-buffers and supports being omitted, and the various flues and gratings. Fig. 2 is avertical longitudinal section of Fig. 1 through the dust-trap, further showing the parts therein shown and showing the ice-buers by dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3 3, Fig. 2, showing a plan of the parts therein shown, the Valves, however, being shown in rudimentary form, the operating element thereof being omitted, the same being indicated in somewhat rudi- Fig. 4 is a plan of the cowl shown on the left-hand side of the car in Figs. 1 and 9. Fig. 5 is an end view showing the automatically-opening gates of the cowl. Fig. G is a section on the line 6 G, Fig. 4, showing further the construction of said cowl. Fig. '7 is a bottom view of the cowl. Fig. 8 is aperspective'of the lower part ot' the ice-chamber lining, showing the sidewise extension thereon and the dams to control the water from the melting ice. Fig. 9 is an end view of the car with a portion of the end wall broken out to show the interior of the ice-chamber and the wall and communication through it between the ice-chamber and the cargo-space.

In the figures like reference-characters indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

A are the sills, B the floor, C the roof, andD the non-conducting (as to heat) outer walls, of a can The floor and roof should also be non-conducting; but the portions of the outer wall around the air-fines do not require to be; but the inner walls thereof should not conduct heat,norshould the valves p and q. The partition E between the ice-chamber and the cargo-space should be non-conducting to prevent the side toward the cargo becoming so cold as to cause condensation of the moisture in the air on said side, and to prevent, also, an equalization of temperature in its vicinity that would operate against the circulation of the air in the car by gravity, by which means dampness and gaseous exhalation are carried into the ice-charnber and broughtinto contact with the water from the melting ice, by which means they will be largely absorbed.

The walls E, with the end walls D and the wall F approximately parallel with the sides of the car, form the ice-chamber. The ice-chamber should be lined with galvanized iron or equivalent metal, and obviously said lining should extend into the lines that contain the draintraps, which construction is shown in Fig. 8, in which wings of the lining are ex tended from the ice-chamber to the sides of the car, carrying the water from the meltingice to said traps and preventing its overflow at any point. The drain-trap may be of any construction, the one outlined 'in Figs. l, 2, and 3 being the one covered by United States Patent to Albert A. IVood, No. 430,599, dated June 17, 1390; but one of the spaces inclosed bythe wall E and the end wall of the car and the adjacent portions of the side walls thereof will be described, as they should be duplicated in both ends of the car.

At suitable points within the ice'chamber are the curved bars J, which are secured at their ends to the sides of the ice-chamber and curve downwardly to the longitudinal center ICO thereof, the center one being somewhat higher than the two side ones and all being parallel in position. By reason of the curvature of these bars J the momentum of the ice will be checked and eventually exhausted by the ice passing back and forth up and down the curved sides, upon which it will drop either a short distance to the bottom of the tank from the lower bars J or to said lower bars from the upper one, which will protect the loor of the tank perfectly until sufficient bulk of the ice shall have accumulated to ll the tank above said bars, when the bulk thereof will effectually protect the same; also, said bars will assist the tank in sustaining the Weight of ice, and as the ice melts will guide it along all toward the center of the tank and keep it together in a perforated mass and prevent the isolation of pieces of ice in the tank. This construction of air-refrigerating chamber and lues is entirely adequate to the production of a lower degree of temperature than is necessary in the transportation of ordinary goods, and hence economy of ice is a practical possibility, and the bars J, formed substantially as specified, have proven to be a very desirable means for keeping the ice in a mass, and hence reducing the superficial area thereof, as well as a performance of their other functions.

In the bottom of the ice-chamber, as shown in Figs. 1, 3, 8, and 9, but best in Figs. l and 8, are the two upwardly-projectingl partitions J which are for the following purpose and of a material and construction suitable for the "consummation thereof. The traps used for drainage lare usually sealed with water, being generally some modiication of the S-trap, and hence were the car to stand still for a considerable time with its lioor inclined transversely, as is very-often the case, the Water would all run to one trap, leaving the other to dry out and admit air. The partitions J form dams. preventing the water crossing the bottom of the ice-chamber and compelling the same to have exit through both drain-traps under any reasonable inclination. The space between the two partitions J is for the reception of the usual salt and its retention.

The ice-chamber has communication with the-cargo-space through the openings c in and near the top of the wall E, as best shown in Fig. 9, and with the flues P, through the openings S at the top and with the ilues O, through the 'openings R at the bottom, said openings R extending to the loor' and allowing the passage of the water to the drain-traps. The said flues O and P have openings o andp into the cargo-space of the car, and are divided from ea'c'h -other by the horizontal wall, as in Figs. l and 2. The openings o are protected by the grat-'ings o2, which are pivoted't-o the wall E at their tops, and are adapted to be swung thereon to allow access to the drain-traps and lue O, and their tops o3 are inclined to prevent the depositof freight thereon. The ice is held from con tact with the part f of the wallsF by means of an outwardly curved or extending grating H, which is extended upwardly over the openings S and downwardly a short distance over the openings R, and by holding the ice away from part f wall F between said openings forms an air-passage in which the warmer air entering through the opening S may pass in contact with the ice to the opening R, and thence through the flues O and openings o into the cargo-space. The warmer air passing down these ilues so formed by the ice held off by grating H and the partf of the wall F will commence the melting of the ice at a point where the drip will run directly to the trap without percolating through the main body of ice and necessitating the absorption of its heat in melting ice from which no result applicable to the refrigeration of the cargo could be obtained. The ice-chamber being charged with a quantity of ice, the air cooled thereby, becoming heavier by contraction, will pass out into the iiue through the openings R and into the interior of the car by the openings o, where on receiving heat from the cargo and being thereby caused to expand it will rise and pass into the ice-chamber through the openings p and S and e, by reason of whi-ch a constant circulation will be producedthat will pass the air alternately through the cargo and ice. The air passing constantly through the car will take up the noxious gases arising from the cargo and carry them to the ice-chamber, where they will be absorbed by the water from the melting ice. refrigeration the valves p and q should be closed, as shown in the drawings, except at such times as it is desirable to change the air in the car, or it might be desirable to open them during refrigeration to neutralize and reduce its effect. In either of the last two cases the openings 0 and p are used in common. In all cases they are Vused with both processes alternately.

The parts of the construction relating to the refrigerating of the ycargo have now been described, and we will proceed to describe the further construction, by which we are enabled to introduce pure `dustless air into the interior IOL' During the process of IIO of the car or to exclude same at will, briefly describing, however, those parts fully speci# fied in our former and hereinbefore-m-entionled Letters Patent, No. 400,863.

The part set off by the walls F and inclosed further by a portion of the side wall and the walls E is, as hereinbefore mentioned, subdivided into fines N, O, P, and Q by partitions- L, M, and K. The iues N communicate with the iiues O'through an openingn, closed, Vwhen desired, by a valve q', and the `flues Q commu-nicate with the fines P through the openings q, closed, when desired, by the valve p. The valves p and q are arranged Vto operate simultaneously, and means are provided whereby they may be opened from the o'utside of the car. Deflectors 70,1, and m are so IZO falling from one deflectorto the one below until it strikes the deflector k, when it will be blown down the fiue 7a2, the short deiiector lo guiding it to the said ilues k2 and preventing its passage upward, said deflector 7o being found by experience to be of great advantage in the operation. The openings T admit air to the dust-trap and are covered with gauze and protected by the end ladder-bars, the eX- cess of area over that of the openings n producing an air-current out through the flue k2.

The cowl U is connected with the flues Q by the opening u in the roof of the car, as clearly shown in Fig. G. This cowl should be made of sheet metal of a sufficient thickness to prevent its being easily indented and is preferably square or rectangular in general contour and has two outer walls u substantially parallel to the car and an inner partition u2, which divides the chamber 11,3 from the air-flue a4, a transverse end wall a5, which is preferably inclined, as best shown in Fig. 7, condensing the air, striking its surface into the iiue a4 and forming the end wall of the chamber M3, and being in the forward end of the cowl situated at the back end of the car as it runs. The end of the cowl nearest the back end of the car is open as to the exterior walls, a gate 'its being supplied, however, to close it normally, said gate `being pivoted on the shaft a7, which also extends across the Hue a4 and carries therein the Wing u8. The gate u and the Wing u8 project downwardly below the shaft a7 a greater distance than they project above, so that the wind entering the fine a4 from the end nearest the center of the car will, by pressing on the long wing, open the gate u, and when the car is going in the opposite direction the air will strike the larger side of the gate r11,6 and close it, the gate on the other end of the car being opened, as j ust described, and the air will enter through the opening T and the fines N and E in the' front end of the car and then pass through the cargo-space and pass out through the tlues P and `Q and the opening u and the chamber us.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l, In a device of the class specified, the iiue N, opening into the interior of the car and having an exterior opening T, and the deflectors 7c, Z, and m, arranged substantially as specified, the flue 7e and stop 7a2 being situi ated at a short distance from thc mouth of said flue 7o and over the saine, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a device of the class specified, the partitions J between the drain-traps on the bottom of the ice-chamber, for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two Witnesses.

CHRISTIAN E. LUCAS. ALBERT A.WOOD'. Witnesses:

ALBERT P. Woon, S. M. Woon. 

